A Testament to Telework’s Progress

Brittany Ballenstedt | NextGov | July 3, 2012

Federal agencies are open on Tuesday, after a major storm in the D.C. area on Friday that has caused power outages and transportation problems for residents. And the fact that federal agencies are open, with employees having the option to take unscheduled leave or telework, pays tribute to the fact that telework has come a long way in the past couple of years.

Josh Sawislak, senior fellow for Telework Exchange, told Wired Workplace on Tuesday that the response to Friday’s storm -- which caught D.C.-area residents by surprise -- was proof that federal agencies have come a long way in implementing telework into their continuity of operations plans. “If this storm had happened even five years ago, the government would have been shut down Monday and Tuesday,” he said. “But we’re seeing a much more resilient government than we have in the past.”

The trouble with Friday’s storm, however, is that not only did some federal agencies lose power, many federal employees lost and are still without electricity in their homes, Sawislak said. But that should not necessarily prevent federal employees from being able to telework, he added...